RNC chair: Palin coverage ‘sexist’

Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan called the media “sexist” Monday for focusing on the $150,000 in committee funds used to clothe GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

“I find it sexist that you would talk about this,” Duncan said during an interview on MSNBC. “Do you talk about how much a tie costs that a male candidate wears in the campaign? No. I find a double standard in this country and it’s very disappointing.”

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Duncan would not answer whether he signed off on the spending, saying “this was a campaign expense that came from the coordinated expense of the campaign. It has nothing to do with the big issues of the day.”

Palin has tried to distance herself from the story, blaming the RNC for buying the expensive clothes.

“Just like the lighting and the staging and everything else that the RNC purchased, I'm not taking them with me,” Palin said during a campaign stop in Tampa, Florida. “Those clothes, they are not my property.”

Duncan did not confirm Palin’s account, saying only, “I'm not going to get into an argument with Sarah Palin or anyone else about this.

“We are working with the campaign. This was a coordinated expense that the campaign asked us to pay for, and we paid for that expense. It’s entirely legal,” Duncan said.

Appearing later on the same cable network, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said his committee has not spent any money on ties or any other clothing for its candidates.